Alien: Passenger 8
by Warlord Darnell
Summary: Insert OC Jonathan Crane onto the Nostromo. A Stellar Cartographer, he's a member of the Nostromo Crew. When the computer wakes everyone up, he's forced into a situation he never saw coming
1. Prologue: Ship's Shift

_**What up? I got this idea after watching Alien and reading the script. I think that you'll enjoy it. I've decided to insert an OC into the plot of Alien, and go from there. His name's Jonathan Crane. You'll find out more about him as you read. Enjoy, and please leave me a review…**_

**Alien: Passenger 8**

**Prologue: Ship's Shift**

**Space**

_ Space is a void. Though it's filled with stars, planets, nebulae, and other items, it's still empty. Though around the objects stellar communities form, most of space is empty._

_ The space between stars is mostly empty. Looking out the window of your ship, you'll see the stars shine like the love of God is seen. Though religious followers will tell you otherwise, to the masses, the stars shine the same way; cold and remote._

_ They don't even twinkle. The fluctuations in brightness and the fuzz around them are not even there in space. It's all a single steady point of light, barely visible to the untrained eye._

_ Gliding through the gulf between stars, is the __Nostromo__. A massive ship, with refinery towers resembling a Gothic Cathedral, it's front section barely intelligible from it._

_ Currently, it was cold and lifeless. Eight humans and one cat lay in Cryosleep tubes. _

**Nostromo**

_Calculating Date…_

_X9jk28z928ai655…._

_Translating…._

_Date…..December 19…Waking Passenger 8_

_WYCE17…..19A5x….Jonathan Crane….._

_ The computer shut on half of the lights, and began to whir. The 8__th__ cryotube, the one containing a tall, thin, Italian had begun to warm up, as the computer woke the specific passenger._

**Jonathan**

Dreams with images of flying and falling. Jonathan was caught between the thin line that divides nightmares from dreams.

He heard a slight whirr, and felt the ability to wake up. He opened his eyes, and looked around.

The lights were dim, and he could see the top of his cryotube lifted up. Along his per feral, he could see the black dividers of his tube's sides.

"They can't pay me enough for this bit." He groaned, getting up out of the tube.

The floor was cold on his bare feet, and the dim lights made him want to go back to sleep. There was just enough to see, but not too much as to wake up the other passengers.

He strode his way to his locker, and opened it.

The metal door flew open, sending an otherwise inaudible whoosh of air past him.

It was quiet. A bit too quiet for his comfort. He felt that the ship was a bit too quiet to be comfortable.

He knew he couldn't dawdle. He had a job to do.

He put on a pair of jeans, skipped a shirt, and put on his _**Nostromo**_ jacket. He then slid on a pair of lounge shoes, and took a look around.

"Shut cryotube until deadline." He commanded out loud.

At this, the ship followed his order. It shut the tube, leaving a slight hiss in the air.

He took a look around.

Lights only on half power, other cryotubes shut.

"Another week of exploring." He thought out loud.

He made his way down the hall into the galley, and got out some cereal. He wished to death that one of the 7 empty chairs had someone in them.

It was enough to drive you mad, the loneliness was. The only living thing moving around the ship was him at the moment.

He began to eat, mulling over his dream he had. The dreams were simultaneously of falling and flying at the same time.

He looked over at an orange he brought out. The ship had a slight supply of fruit.

He wished to death he had someone to talk to. He currently felt like he was alone.

The entire ship had the slight groans, and the chairs chipped paint started to dig into his arms.

The silence was starting to kill him. It was like the entire world was silently mocking his situation.

He wished to death just to hear a human voice. He could scream all he wanted, yet no one would listen.

_"Listen….that's it!"_ he thought to himself.

He got up, just leaving his cereal at the table. He would come back for it though, he just needed something first.

He went to his locker, and after pulling back his clothes, he found the section that held personal belongings.

In it, there was his music-equipped cellular. Even though he wouldn't get a signal out here, he currently could listen to all of the songs he downloaded.

He grabbed it, and his collapsible headphones.

Slipping them onto his head, he turned on the phone.

After the whir of startup, he was at the homepage. Clicking the button with the Walkman logo, the menu turned on.

His music collection would tell you exactly what he was.

The current song was More Than A Feeling by Boston. It was the first track on his playlist, and it currently was on the start.

Pressing the **Play** button in the center, he let the acoustic riffs come in slowly in its fade.

_I looked up this morning/Noticed summer's gone_

_Turned on some music to start my day_

_Then lost myself, in a song_

_I closed my eyes, and I slipped awaaayyy…._

As the guitar chords came in, he made his way back to the table. Hearing Classic Rock would be the perfect way to keep his mind off his worries.

As he sat back down eating, he didn't think it was so bad. Unfortunately, he still had no one to talk to.

_**xXx**_

After breakfast was done, he made his way to his station. His job on board was a simple one.

Charting stars. The galaxy was full of them. Weyland-Yutani paid him good money to look at the stars through the ship's telescope and essentially chart them.

He was in the telescope blister, listening to his music as he scanned the horizon.

He had the computer cross reference star arrangements with previously known and confirmed.

The computer spat out a line of **Confirmed**'s and **Unidentified**'s rapidly. The scan would take up the entire section of the sky.

_If I could turn the page_

_In time then I'd rearrange just a day or two_

_Close my, close my, close my eyes_

_But I couldn't find a way_

_So I'll settle for one day to belive in you_

_Tell me, tell me, tell me lies_

_Tell me lies_

_Tell me sweet, little lies_

_(Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)_

_Oh, no, no you can't disguise_

_(You can't disguise, no you can't disguise)_

_Tell me lies_

_Tell me sweet little lies_

As Fleetwood Mac's Little Lies was blasting its way into his brain, the scan finished.

The computer let out a low, moaning "Beep" and the readout came through.

**Readout Complete…Would you like a 3D display?**

Jonathan pressed **Y**. The screen lit up with **Loading…Rendering…Starmap Complete…..**

He looked around at it. Currently, it showed the confirmed stars of the Hectate Sector, the farthest known mapped starspace.

However, there was something different about the stars. Currently, there was a cluster that seemed to have been made up of **Unidentified** stars, highlited in bright orange against the green of the **Confirmed**.

_There's a hole in the wall_

_With a light shining in_

_And it's letting me know to get up_

_It's time to begin_

_Oh there is nothing to lose_

_'Cause it's already lost_

_In a runaway world_

_Of confusion_

_I'm not gonna take it_

_That's why I fight fire with fire_

_Oh I'm burning inside and my heart is a-cryin'_

_Fire with fire_

_I don't want to lose this flamin' desire_

As Fight Fire With Fire by Kansas was blasting it's way into his ears and throughout the ship, he felt a bit of a surprise. Almost a mild one.

**Unconfirmed Cluster Detected…Would you like to claim cluster?**

Jonathan knew exactly what he wanted to do. He pressed **Y** on the keyboard.

**Preparing naming prompt…**

This had made the voyage for Jonathan. He had been wanting to use this name he had for a cluster.

He counted the orange dots. "1..2…3….4…..5….6….7…8…9! Yes!" he cheered after counting out loud. This was the best discovery he'd made all voyage long.

**Please select a star to name…**

He took the first one in the center, and typed in **L…A…M…B…E…R…T…** for the center one.

He put it on pause. Just naming the star made him seem lonely about his situation.

He usually had something he could do. He left the blister and went to the table, where he picked up his sketchpad. It was mostly tracing paper, and he had a number 2 pencil.

He took it, and went into the Hibernacula. He figured he'd have time on his hands, and he decided to take some drawing.

He made his way in front of Lambert's tube. He could see her sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the outside world.

He knew who he had to draw. Setting the drawing pad and pencil on the floor, he made his way back into the kitchen.

He picked up a chair, and made his way back into the hibernacula. He set it down in front of Lambert's tube, turning it to where he'd be looking straight at her.

He picked up the pencil and paper, and sat down. He figured that Art helped with this, more than most people could realize.

He drew an imperfect circle, and the frame in a sleeping pose.

Then, he drew the skin-tight outfit that she was wearing around her.

Next, he focused on the face. He drew her lips first, then her nose, and finally her shut eyes.

After adding the hair, he was done drawing her. Now he had to place her.

He drew the frame of the cryotube around her, and then the glass curve. He shaded the area around her, and then wrote **Beloved Lambert** on the side, before signing it **J.I.C.**, which he set inside a triangle.

He sighed, looking at his handiwork. It was perfect, the representation of her and her setting.

He got up to take the chair back when he noticed the occupant of the tube next to Lambert's.

His half-sister, Ellen Ripley was currently sleeping in her pod, oblivious to the outside world.

He figured he had some more time to kill, so he moved the chair in front of Ellen's pod, and turned to a new page.

He repeated the same process in drawing her. He knew that there was a certain glimpse of readiness, even while she slept.

It was one of the things he admired about her. He knew that she wouldn't give up while there was still hope.

He had finished the drawing and titled it **Dearest Half-Sister**. He signed it his same way.

He still had a job to do though.

He made his way back to the blister, and sat down.

_On a Dark Desert Highway_

_Cool wind in my hair_

_Warm smell of Colitas_

_Risin' up through the air_

_Up ahead in the distance_

_I saw a shimmering light_

_My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim_

_I had to stop for the night_

_There she stood in the doorway_

_I heard the mission bell_

_I was thinkin' to myself _

_This could be heaven and this could be hell_

_Then she lit up a candle_

_And she showed me the way_

_I heard the voices down the corridor_

_I thought I heard them say_

_Welcome to the Hotel California_

_Such a lovely place __Such a lovely place_

_Such a lovely face_

_There plenty of room at the Hotel California_

_Any time of year __Any Time of year_

_You can find it here_

He started to name the stars while Hotel California by The Eagles was playing. He knew exactly what he wanted to name the nine stars.

He typed in everyone's name, **R…I…P…L…E…Y…** on the next one. Then he typed in **P…A…R…K…E…R…**. He then typed in **A…S…H…**, before moving on to **K…A…N…E…**, next, he did **D…A…L…L…A…S…** before he did **B…R…E…T…T…** next to **J…O…N…E…S…** before finishing on the one closest to the first on he named; he typed in **C…R…A…N…E…**

He then received **Would you like to name the cluster?**

He typed **Y**.

The computer then went **Loading…Preparing naming prompt…Ready**

There was a blinking underscore that waited at the moment. It blinked on and off, just mocking him.

He typed in **N…O…S…T…R…O…M…O…** to the word **Cluster**.

"That's what I call a cluster." He said out loud.

There was an echo, which ran through five times.

It was empty, hard, and cold in the ship. He knew that naming a cluster just didn't seem like enough.

_So, so you think you can tell_

_Heaven from hell_

_Blue skies from pain_

_Can you tell a green field_

_From a cold steel rail_

_Did they get you to trade_

_Your hero's for ghosts_

_Hot ashes for trees_

_Hot air for a cool breeze_

Pink Floyd's Wish You were here was playing it's melancholy sound throughout his head.

He paused the player and went to the hibernacula, before resuming while he stood in front of Lambert

_How I wish_

_How I wish you were here_

_We're just Two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl_

_Year after year_

_Running over the same old ground_

_And how we found_

_The same old fears_

_Wish you were here_

As the wind fade came, he knew just how lonely it was. He wished he had someone to talk to during his time.

He knew that he'd have another three days out of the tube. He set up a hammock, and went back to the kitchen for dinner.

He fixed a meal of Spaghetti and meatballs, and began to eat. He knew it was nowhere close to the real thing, but it was something.

_"Shoot, sure smells a hell of a lot like it"_ he thought to himself, reasoning it.

He knew that it was something. He turned to another song.

_Come in here dear boy, have a cigar_

_You're gonna go far, you're gonna fly high,_

_You're never gonna die, you're gonna make it if you try_

_They're gonna love you_

_Well I almost have a deep respect I mean that most sincere_

_The band is just fantastic that is really what I think_

_Oh by the way, which one's Pink?_

_And did we tell you the name of the game boy_

_We call it ridin' the gravy train_

He loved this song. Pink Floyd's Have a Cigar was the perfect representation of the treatment they got from the record company. It reminded him a bit of how he was received by Weyland Yutani, but it was ultimately something he didn't want to remember now.

Making his way to the hammock, he shut off the song. He set the alarm to play it out loud when it was time to get up.

_**xXx**_

_Well we're just knocked out_

_We heard about the sell out_

_You've got to get an album out_

_You owe it to the people. We're so happy we can hardly count_

_Everybody else is just green; have you seen the chart_

_It's a helluva start,It could be made into a monster, _

_If we all pull together as a team_

_And did we tell you the name of the game boy_

_We call it ridin' the gravy train_

Jonathan woke up with a violent start, falling straight out of the hammock onto the cold steel floor.

He knew that the thing would turn off and restart his progress in five seconds.

With the end of the guitar solo and the _Whoosh_ that came, he put his headphones in and shut it off.

Making his way into the galley, he found a weird sight. It appeared that there was a black sharpie next to the orange. It was then that the idea struck him.

Grabbing the citrus fruit piece and the marker, he took off the cap and quickly got to work.

Drawing a smiley face on the orange, he smiled at the companion he created.

"Hello Jim." He said to the orange, giving it a name on the spot.

To the outside world, the orange said nothing.

To his imagination, it replied "What's up Jonny?"

"Don't call me that Jim. Just call me Jon, or even Crane like how the crew calls me." He replied

"Well, whatcha doin'?" the orange asked in his head.

"Well, I was hoping to make some new discoveries in terms of star clusters."

"That's swell! Any luck so far?"

"Well, I found this nine-star cluster and named it after the crew."

"Nice. I'm just sitting here with a worm in me!"

At this, he dropped the orange right from his hand, straight onto the floor. The orange splattered, making a huge mess.

In this however, there wasn't a worm.

"I think oranges are a bit too cheerful." He noted to himself. He then looked around.

He had another two days of staring at the sky and keeping himself from going mad. Work helped a little, but ultimately made things a bit more hard to deal with.

However, work was what they woke him up for. He could keep busy in here, but ultimately, he had to work. He was put on this ship to do a job.

He made his way back to the telescope blister and took a seat. He had a job to do, and it was a three day job. However, he was supposed to get the entire sky around him scanned, charted, and claimed in 72 hours.

He set up the computer; which gave **Telescope scanner on line…Please enter sky grid reference(s)…to scan multiple references…please enter [Command]M147a[enter]{shift}…**

He followed those instructions immediately. He typed in the prompt, lightning fast in his sure keystrokes.

** Processing…Please wait…Processing…Please wait…**

He sighed, and put on his headphones. Turning on the music, he began to listen to the song

_Hey, I've got no place to be_

_And no one I'd rather see_

_I won't mind_

_If you can't find_

_The time to stay with me_

The computer gave a "DING" and spat out

**Please select global reference…Requesting grid size…Would you like to do all?**

Jonathan punched **Y**

**Processing…Please wait…Estimating time…**

Jonathan sighed. The company discouraged him from doing the entire sky around the ship at one time. It wasn't because of the time it took. They designed the system to be able to do it in under 36 hours as a single sitting. The computer could handle it.

However, he got paid by the charts. The Network was essentially a system of stars that were charted, and ultimately figured into as a system which manages all ships.

Moreover, without people like him aboard, navigators would be using old charts, data would grow old fast, and ultimately, galactic expansion would grind to a halt.

His job could be done by a robot, or an android even. The artificial people could do this all the time.

However, the surveyor's guild had other things to say. They were people who got paid to survey, whether it is planets, stars, or even systems.

Jonathan Crane was guild member 1706. He was entitled to union wages, and healthcare because of collective bargaining.

** Time estimation complete…Estimated scanning time…20 Hours, 15 Minutes, 25 seconds…Would you like to start?**

He pressed **Y** and the computer buzzed.

**Scanning sky…Please wait…**

Out of the blister, he could see it start to move. It slowly could gaze. The computer kept on spouting out **Confirmed**'s and **Unidentified**'s for a good five minutes while it was still scanning.

He figured that the computer could wait. He wanted to get some more drawings.

He went to where he left his sketchpad, picked it up, and made his way to the hibernacula.

He sat in his chair, and proceded to get a still-life of the room.

He drew the pods at his angle, their occupants, and the walls.

When he was done with that, he decided to draw the other five people.

Making his way in front of the pods, he drew the portraits one by one.

It took him the rest of the day to finish all of them. By this time, his playlist started over.

When he was done admiring his handiwork, he went to his hammock and lay down.

_**xXx**_

When he woke up, he made his way to the galley, and made some cereal.

He figured that it had taken long enough.

Sitting down at the blister, he looked at the computer. The screen read:

**Seventeen Unidentified Stars found…Unidentified Constellation group…Star Count…16…Would you like to claim?**

He slammed **Y**, and typed **Starmap Request [shift]17a12{enter}**.

**Processing Request…Loading…Rendering Starmap…**

Within seconds, a 3D starmap came up on the screen. It was a simple cluster of 16 unconfirmed stars. Jonathan knew exactly what to do.

Turning the view mouse, it revealed a constellation that was a cat if you connected the dots right.

With that, he set out to give the stars names that he felt fit them. He named them things like **Knight's Star** and **Soldier's Star**-feeling that they were proper names. They gave him hope, naming stars such names.

When he was done, he looked at the time. He currently had one hour left to be awake.

**Starcharts complete…Would you like to send data?**

Jonathan mumbled "Finally" and typed **Y**.

**Sending…Data sent…See you in nine months Crane…Shutting Down…**

With that, the computer shut down. He knew exactly what it would be like if he stayed up. He shut off the music on his player, got up, and made his way out from the blister.

He then made his way to the locker room. He stripped down, removing first his jacket, and then his pants, revealing him in boxer shorts.

He then took to the tube, and went to sleep. He had finished his shift, he might as well get some rest.


	2. CH 1: Abrupt Awakening

_**Me again. I think that this is perfect. Now that we're officially making our way into the story, I have to say this is fun. I'm going to make sure you get the same word count as in the previous chapter. That being said, it's the reason why I'm keeping you waiting. It takes a while to get to the 3,000 word mark. **_

_**So, I have to say, this story is going on to its intended direction now. Enjoy, and please leave a review when you're done…**_

**Chapter 1: Abrupt Awakening**

**Space**

_ The gulf between stars continued to be inhabited by the Nostromo. Smoothly cutting it's way through the airless void, it moved without stopping. _

_ Its course was set to Earth. It was on it's way from beyond the outer rim of civilized space. _

_ Its cargo was 200,000 tons of Iron ore and a refinery. It's Gothic cathedral shape awkward in appearance, irrelevant in practice._

_ Space had no air, no resistance to necessitate a smooth design. There was literally nothing in the area it was at. Micrometeoroids were few and far between in the gulf between stars._

_ Sleeping on board was the crew of 8. They lay there, in suspended animation kept alive and asleep by a computer. _

_ All mammals had the ability to hibernate, an essential piece of DNA that came with being a mammal. Without it, you essentially weren't one._

_ On the bridge, two helmets with openings sat on top of the consoles. _

_A screen stared, blank. _

_ For a few brief moments, there was nothing. Then, the monitors for the ship came to life:_

_**Sxwitnic992i93ks{end]{Command}x47kjm964321a8x86jmik**_

_**…**_

_ The command script read out on the monitor, reflecting onto the right helmet. _

_ At this, the helmet facing the Hibernacula computer came to life. It belched out_

_**{Shift]4imum865x429{Enter} [Shift}{47]**_

_ The ship computer buzzed, and replied with:_

_**Xi9923ki9k9kikk99u7ik9[Shift}{72]**_

_ At this, the Hibernacula computer replied, scripting off rapidly:_

_**Xi890766x47X[Shift}{73]**_

_ Now that it was done talking, the ship started to turn on all of the systems. _

_ Taking a cue from the ship, the Hibernacula computer began to warm up the passengars, first by turning on the lights in the room, and then by systematically waking the passengers._

**Crane**

He was currently having a flashback dream. He was currently ten again, and it was during the time he got to spend during the summer with his Half-Sister.

He and Ellen were currently in a field, playing while their moms caught up with each other. 

He remembered this day. He spotted a tree and broke his arm trying to climb it. 

Upon hitting the ground, he woke up.

"Ah!" he yelled out, waking with a start.

Looking around, he was currently in his tube, and the lights were on all the way.

"We home already?" he asked. Sitting up, he looked around.

Everyone else was already out of their tubes and elsewhere.

Standing up, he made his way to his locker. Opening it, he got dressed. Putting on his jeans, then a shirt, and finally his jacket, he looked around.

It was currently ship's morning at the moment, the fact apparent by the simple schedule.

He grabbed his cell phone, headphones and sketch pad and made his way into the kitchen.

He arrived to find everyone serving themselves cereal. His usual spot on the table, right between Ripley and Lambert was still there.

He sat down, and prepared himself a bowl.

"Hey, look who's finally up." Ellen Ripley commented "Sleep good bro?"

"I slept fine." He answered "It's the time I had to spend awake that got to me."

"Yeah." Parker added "You spend three days awake every nine months, earning extra money while we're fast asleep."

"Jesus I'm cold." Lambert commented out of the blue.

"Here." Jonathan replied, taking off his coat. He then offered it to Lambert.

"Thanks." She replied, sliding it on her shoulders.

"I think now that we're here, about to dock, I think we should talk about the bonus situation." Parker announced.

"Yeah." Brett seconded "I agree."

"Brett and I think we deserve full share." Parker went on to explain.

"You'll get what you're contracted for." Dallas replied "Just like everybody else."

"Everyone else gets more than us." Brett argued.

"Yeah." Parker added "Crane here gets paid the most every trip home."

"What I do is none of your business. I'm a Cartographer. I'm here to get star charts for The Network." Jonathan defended "I get paid by the number of charts I make. If I don't make a chart while I'm awake, I don't get paid for it."

"You all get what you deserve." Dallas reasoned "He deserves what he gets for the star charts, and that's what he gets."

"He gets paid so much because he's part of a Union." Brett reasoned "If we join a union, I think we can get paid as much as we should be."

"Join a union and you're fired." Dallas reprimanded "You all know what The Company does when techs try to union."

"And still they hired Crane." Kane added "You have to admit, there's something about him that I find creepy. Just look at these drawings."

With that, Kane showed everyone Jonathan's sketchbook. Everyone could see the drawing that he drew of the cryotubes.

"You've got skills Jon." Ellen commented "I can easily tell exactly what that is."

"Thanks sis" he replied "I'm awake and alone for three days every nine months. I figured I'd practice drawing." He then reached for his sketchpad and snatched it out of Kane's hands

"MOTHER wants to talk to you Captain." Ash announced, turning to Dallas.

"I know." He replied "Yellow light. Captain's eyes only." With that, he finished his breakfast "Everyone report to your stations. Breakfast's over."

With that, everyone grumbled and got up.

Jonathan took his stuff and went to his usual place. Since he was a satellite member, he didn't have a station. He was on board by request of the Company. He did have one job that made him still be a member.

He was Provisional Officer. He was the last in line for command. He was essentially a final option.

However, he was currently without a place to be.

He decided to follow Ellen, Kane, and Lambert to the bridge.

He saw his half-sister sit in a high-backed chair, Lambert take a seat at the Navigator's console, and Kane sit at the pilot's controls.

Lambert flipped a switch, and a star-speckled sky came up on all of the displays.

"Where's Earth." She asked.

"You're the Navigator." Kane commented.

"This is definitely not our system." Jonathan replied. "I can tell just by looking at the screen." He pointed to a group of nine stars "That's the Nostromo Cluster. I found it last time I was awake. It wouldn't be visible if we were back in the Sol system."

"How do you know that?" Ripley asked.

"What's the Nostromo Cluster?" Lambert added, confused "I don't remember hearing about it."

"I found it when I was last awake. It's nine stars, each named after one of us and the cat." He explained "I know that because I can still see Evo 476. Evo 476 is a star that's at the furthest edge of The Frontier."

"How do you know that's Evo?" Kane asked "It's just an ordinary star."

"Evo's the brightest star on this side of the Core worlds." Jonathan explained "It's the Orion's belt of the Hectate sky!"

Lambert laughed at this, a cute, tiny laugh that made both Kane and him smile.

"That's hilarious." She commented "You tell the funniest Starmap jokes."

"I don't get it." Kane admitted.

"I don't either." Ripley replied "I just pretend to get it, and fake a laugh whenever I'm with his friends."

Crane sighed. "If you don't like spending time with them, then why do you come?" he asked

"I don't mind them." She explained "I just don't get the jokes you guys tell. Your friend who wears the pilot's shades always buys me stuff when we get together. I simply go to get free food."

"Well, I'll be sure to tell him that sis." He challenged "He likes you, but now that he knows you only want the food he buys, I'll be sure to let him know."

"Fine by me." Ripley ended "He made a move on me last time and I knocked him out. It's what he gets."

"Back on the subject of where we are;" Lambert added "I've figured out that we're approaching a planetoid around Zeta Reticuli."

"I've found out why too." Kane added "Computer got a signal from something on one of the moons. Something Intelligent."

"Could just be a downed ship from one of those pirate attacks." Jonathan added "Pirates always wait out in these areas of the sky. Hectate is well known as a pirate hotbed."

"That's not what it is at all." Kane replied. He hit a few buttons, and on all of the screens came what appeared to be something not of this earth.

**(&*_*_()&^*((&(&((^&*(&(&*(^T*^**$~!**^(^*%*%&%*%&%$%[|[{\[]-)*(*…_+:l(&)&^%(%($#%$^#^^%#%&*%$^*%$&^$&&*%$&^$&*&%^$%&%%&&%^**&%%&*^%$^*&^%$%&*^&%$##$%^&*(*^%##$^&*((*^%$$^?:P?L":{":"{:"}{":{":{{{"{++_+++==-="_{P_){)_+()_(_)*)*)*)*)((())))))**&&&^^^%^**&**(*((**

The computer fed it out in a loop. There were also some melancholy gurgles to accompany this. Gurgles that were not of an Earthly Computer.

"What is this?" Jonathan asked, not expecting an answer.

However, he received one.

"You're the explorer Bro." Ellen replied "You've probably seen this somewhere."

"I honestly have no clue what it is. The symbols don't even look like any alphabet I've seen _anywhere_. I'm able to recognize any sort of alphabet. I've never seen this at all." He explained

"Well, Let's get the Captain and see what he says." Ripley suggested.

With that, she got up out of her chair, and left the room.

For a few brief moments, there was silence in the room. Everything was of an awkward atmosphere.

Lambert broke the silence with "So what's the Nostromo Cluster?" she asked.

"Well," Jonathan explained "I found nine stars in a group, and so I decided to have a go at naming them. I named a star after a different member of the crew, including Jones."

"You're not supposed to do that." Kane retorted "You're supposed to give those classifications and a numeric listing. Naming them is against the rules."

"Actually, it isn't." Jonathan quipped "They get those listings afterwards. I'm allowed to name them like that as long as I don't repeat a name."

"So where is it exactly?" Lambert asked, leaning in to face him.

"Well," he explained "If you take a look at the west part of where we are now, and see the spot that looks a bit like the big dipper, you'll have the Nostromo cluster."

She took a look at it, and asked "Where's my star?"

"Well," He explained, pointing at the display "That star right in the center is your star. That one not very far from it is mine."

"Won't they just drift together?" Kane asked.

"Not for a million years." He replied "They're set at the perfect distance."

"So you're going to name a star after all of us. It's a bit weird in my opinion." Kane commented.

**Ripley**

She made her way out of the Narcissus and back towards the computer terminal.

She figured that either Dallas or Ash would know what to do. She'd much rather ask Dallas then Ash anyhow.

She found Dallas outside the terminal entryway, looking like he'd just exited.

"What'd MOTHER say?" she asked.

"Something about a transmission from an intelligent source." Dallas replied "Company orders are to land and check it out."

"So we're setting down?" she inquired

"We're due to arrive in the system in three hours." Dallas replied "We've also got a problem with the 204 coolant line."

"I'll put Brett and Parker on it." She replied "Is that all?"

Dallas nodded. "Tell everyone to report to the mess in thirty."

"Will do."

With that, she left.

**Crane**

He was currently zoning out with his music while he watched Lambert pore over the consoles, reading aloud what he found during the last 27 months.

_Daddy's gone, cross the ocean_

_Leavin' just a memory_

_A snapshot in the family album_

_Daddy, what else, did you leave for me_

_Daddy what'd you leave behind for me_

_All in all it was, just a brick in the wall_

_All in all it was all just bricks in the wall_

As he was being rocked with Another Brick In The Wall Pt 1 by Pink Floyd, he figured that things weren't so bad at the moment.

When he was shaken from behind, he turned around. He saw Ripley brush past him.

"Captain wants to see you all in the mess in thirty." She announced, quickly passing through.

"That was weird." Crane mumbled.

Ripley turned around. "Crane, I need you to make sure Brett and Parker get the 204 Coolant Line fixed." She commanded "As Provisional Off, this falls on your shoulders."

"Yes ma'am." He replied, getting up and making his way to the lower levels.

He passed through halls of pipes, making his way among the tight spaces, careful not to bump his head.

He would dodge a protruding pipe cluster by turning to the left, and ducking to make his way into the ladder to the lower decks.

Climbing into the tight room, where there was barely room enough to move his shoulders, let alone climb down the narrow ladder which ran through a hole barely three feet in diameter.

However, he'd been down this way. Brett and Parker take it all of the time in getting to their line of work. He figured out early to scrunch up in order to fit.

Compressing his medium form was a cinch. Though he left only a couple of inches of wiggle room, barely able to move his head, he climbed his way down.

He climbed down to the bottom, where the room was barely six feet five inches in height. It had about a four-foot diameter to its size. The walls at this point were smooth and featureless, though there were a few carvings left by the first crew, reading graffiti like **MJ & HH**, **Kilroy Was Here**, and **Fuck The WYC**.

Crane made his way through the tiny hatch, and onto the lower F deck.

He could see Brett and Parker currently wasting time, banging on pipes with wrenches, listening to just the sounds.

"Captain wants you to fix the 204!" Crane shouted, barely able to hear his own thoughts over the banging.

The two engineers quickly stopped.

"What was that Crane?" Brett asked.

"We couldn't hear you over pipe check." Parker added.

"Captain wants you to fix the 204." Crane repeated "shouldn't take you guys very long."

"Yeah, that's what they said about it the first time it broke." Parker repeated.

"Took us ten hours to just find the source of the problem." Brett added.

"Will you two just get it fixed?" Jonathan sighed "It's broken again, and we're meeting in the Mess in thirty. Just try and see what you can get done."

At this, the tubing pipe that was running along the empty side of the hall made a hiss, and immediately sent steam at Crane. The boiling liquid scalded the air in, on and around Crane.

"Agh! God Damn!" he yelled, cringing back.

"Sorry about that." Brett apologized, moving the tubing back with the help of Parker.

"This goddamn ship." Crane sighed "It's falling apart every day. When you fix one thing, something else breaks."

"I tell you one thing though." Parker replied, taping up the tubing with duct tape "We fix something, it stays fixed."

"True that." Jonathan replied "Something else just breaks."

"I tell you what." Brett quipped "Eventually, we'll have fixed everything on board, and the ship'll be as good as new."

"Yeah." Crane added "And I'll be glad with the repairs on the telescope. That breaks, I'm screwed."

"If it breaks, we have to order a new part." Parker sighed "That can't be fixed with ducttape."

"Well, start with the 204." Jonathan replied "I want it fixed by the time we meet in the mess." With that, he turned around, and made his way back to the ladder, and climbed his way back up.

Making his way out of the ladder hatch, he sighed. It sure was a pain dealing with those two. He was amazed how anything got done between the two.

It also got him thinking about the telescope. If that was broken, he would be out of work until they got back to Earth. It was the last thing he wanted as an explorer.

However, as he made his way back down the E level hall, he figured that things weren't so bad.

At least now he'll be with other people. It wasn't like he was all alone. He put his headphones on, and pressed **Play**

_Welcome to your life_

_There's no turning back_

_Even while sleep_

_We will find you_

_Acting on your best behaviour_

_Turn your back on mother nature_

_Everybody wants to rule the world_

_It's my own design_

_It's my own remorse_

_Help me to decide_

_Help make the most_

_Of freedom and of pleasure_

_Nothing ever lasts forever_

_Everybody wants to rule the world_

As Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World was playing, he figured things couldn't be too bad. He knew that the ship may be cramped, and the job may get a bit boring. At least he was with people.

Making his way back to the bridge, he figured that this bit was better than nothing.

He would enter a hatch, climb up the ladder, duck under a piece of pipe, go down another hall, and repeat.

The process took a little while, but eventually he got to the A level. He spotted his sketchpad on a shelf, lying like someone had moved it.

Picking it up, he continued on towards the bridge.

He saw Ash and Dallas talking to each other at the entry hatch. They were standing, almost blocking the way.

"Excuse me guys." Crane apologized as he attempted to make his way through the two.

However, Ash wouldn't let him go past. The guy kept on trying to block him from going in.

"What's the deal?" Crane asked, confused as to what this ordeal was about.

"We want you to do something elsewhere." Ash explained.

"The telescope blister to be specific." Dallas clarified.

"We want you to check what's up ahead for us." Ash furthered "It's your job to survey isn't it?"

"Yeah." Crane explained "I survey stars, star systems, and sometimes planets. I don't usually do a scanner's job."

"We want to know where around Zeta Reticulli the signal is coming from." Ash explained "That way we can be better prepared for rescue."

"This is a rescue mission?" Crane replied "That signal didn't look anything like what a normal distress signal reads out as. They're usually command script with words like emergency and mayday."

"We've determined that it's probably garbled from all of the stellar radiation coming from the central star to it." Ash replied "If we can lock in on it with a line of sight, we'll be able to find it and complete the mission faster."

"Alright." Crane replied "Just give me a minute with it. I'll have to boot up the radio telescope function and get it synched with the ocular. Shouldn't be really hard, just takes a while."

"Get it done." Dallas commanded "You have twenty minutes."

"That'll be perfect." Jonathan replied.

With that, he left for the telescope blister. Sure would be interesting to do his job while everyone else was awake.


	3. CH 2: The Verdict

_**Sorry about the delay. I've got so many projects going that I just can't seem to find the time to get everything done. Now, I'm going to update everything. **_

_**Special thanks to anyone who leaves a review, and eternal thanks to those who read and review chapters.**_

_**So here we go. Please review when you're done…**_

**Chapter 2: The Verdict**

**Crane**

He immediately got to work booting up the radio telescope. The master interface for it was already blinking.

He keyed **Start[Alt]37{Shift}R43[Enter]745-Echo{9]**

At this, there was a whirring sound. It was the fan for the Radio Telescope Interface Computer, or RTIS.

There was a "BEEP" from the computer.

Jon turned his chair a bit.

**Echo-Interface47{Shift}[Activate]{Protocol49}** the computer read out.

Jon punched **Y**, and leaned back

**Echo47{On}[Initialize?**]

He pressed **Y** again.

**Loading…Running Startup Script…Activating RT-Echo…Telescope Online…Would you like to synch with Ocular?**

Jon pounded **Y**

**Synching…Please Wait…**

He sighed, leaning back. It sure was boring doing this. He glanced at his wristwatch **10:15**. He'd been given the job about 5 minutes ago.

Sure beat just waiting. It was as if he was keeping up with a snail, one that didn't even want to move.

It sure would be easier once the telescopes were synched. De-synchronization would sure be a pain, yet it'd be easier to get multiple readings at all angles with the two in synch.

Looking outside, he could see the Dish to the Radio Telescope move, looking for the same point as the much larger ocular.

He always knew it took a while, seeing as the radio has to find the same point as the ocular. How it happened was quite interesting.

The Radio and Ocular telescopes were both run through a set of three computers. There was the Radio Telescope Interface Computer, one which had a keyboard and monitor at the blister. This actually did all of the calculation and moved to inspect the sky at the operators command.

Then there was the Ocular Interface Computer, or OIC. This one once again had an interface, one that took up another corner of the blister. It was the interface that was activated during the three-day break every nine months. It allowed for an ocular readout.

Finally, taking up the center of the blister and most of the space around it, was the Master Telescope Computer. It was where all diagnostics, readouts, bearings, and all of that were computed through. You could look in and easily see what both of them saw. It was here that starmaps were put together, and controlled both Telescopes. It seemed to be a V-shaped tree, with each computer controlled by the Master, and the entire job made easier.

However, there was still a need for human operators. Thus, the Telescope computers were essentially useless without a person at the keyboard.

Now, Jon was currently listening to Centerfold by the J. Giels Band

_Does she walk_

_Does she talk_

_Does she come complete_

_My homeroom homeroom angel always pulled me from my seat_

_She was pure like snowflakes, no one could ever stain_

_The memory of my angel, could never cause me pain_

Just as the second verse came in, there was a "BEEP" from the computer.

Crane turned to face it. The readout said

**Echo Sync complete…Kilo Synchronized…New signal detected…Would you like to Follow?**

Jon keyed **{Shift}CodeScan{Alt}Vertical-Axis-X[scan]**

The Computer made a gurgling sound

**Scanning Signal Makeup…Signal Type: Non-stellar…Would you like to view?**

Jon pounded **Y** and waited. This machine sure could be an idiot.

**Scanning…Scanning…Scanning…Watching Source…Source found…Would you like a printout of the source?**

For the first time, he wasn't sure with the computer. As he watched it make question marks across the screen, he was very unsure.

It was the first thing that he ever had to think about. He wanted to, but he couldn't decide on it.

However, there was a saying that came to mind. "No risk, no reward." He sighed, keying **Y**.

**Initiallizing…Translating command script…Activating printer…Checking tray…Tray full…Preparing images…Readying map…Printing…Printing complete…Will that be all?**

Crane wasn't sure about that. However, he had a command that he could type in. He keyed **[Shift}{68]Hold Action {Command} Tango Vega {Control}[Enter]**

The computer replied

**Holding command…Waiting…Waiting…**

He knew it would keep on saying **Waiting** until he entered the correct command. It was one of the things he was glad it had.

He made his way into the next room, a small closet which contained what would surprise many. It was a bulk printer, one that took up the next room's closet size. He was amazed at how long the loading time was for the printer when he hit print.

He watched the small display on the corner with the buttons read **Printing Item 273**

The printer began to "WHIRR" and there was the sound of paper being fed. The machine then spat out several sheets, each containing readouts, file entries, and the ultimate verdict.

He glanced at his wristwatch **10:20**.

He figured that getting a job like this done in 10 minutes was a new record, or maybe it wasn't. He didn't know.

He collected the papers, and made his way out of the blister. He climbed down the steps, crouching about halfway through, walked down the hall, and took a left onto the Narcissus accessway.

He went into the Narcissus, and looked around

"Any of you know where Captain Dallas went?" he asked the three other members in the room.

"Dallas is in the mess." Ellen replied, turning around "That's a lot of paper you've got."

"Yeah," he replied "This is all for the Cap. He's got a bit to look at."

"You know he doesn't like to be kept waiting." She replied.

"I know." He sighed "Thanks."

"No problem Jon." She ended, turning back around in her chair.

Crane took his way out of the Narcissus, and made his way downstairs to the mess.

There, he found Dallas and Ash talking.

"I've got the results." He announced.

The two other men looked up.

"I printed out a hard copy." He sighed "I hope that's okay."

"That's fine." Dallas replied "Just set it on the table."

He set the papers back down, and asked "Is that all?"

"Just be sure to be here in ten." Ash replied.

"I'll make sure." He replied. With that, he turned around, and made his way back to the Narcissus.

He figured that Jones might be around somewhere.

Back in the Narcissus, he looked back at the window. Watching the horizon, he saw what appeared to be a dark spot out to the front.

"Any idea where the signal came from?" Ripley asked, turning around in her chair.

"I actually didn't get much of a chance to look. All I did was print out the results." He sighed "I'm told it's from one of the local planetoids. I'm still not sure exactly."

"Well let's focus on what's going on right now." Kane sighed. "I've got the ship in a nice stable course towards the planet up ahead. I'm not sure what we're doing there, but from calculations, it's the source."

**xXx**

After about five more minutes, it was time to go to the mess hall. Everyone took a seat right at where they usually ate. It was like nothing new, but it still was big.

Crane took his usual seat between Ripley and Lambert.

Dallas stood up once everyone had taken a seat.

"As you all know, we aren't home yet." He announced. "We've been woken up early. It turns out, the computer intercepted a transmission, one from a seemingly intelligent source." The captain paused "Thanks to the help of our resident explorer Crane here, we managed to find the source of the signal in-system. It's coming from a moon orbiting a local system. It's listing is LV-426. It's a small planet with a 2-hour day. It's got a place we can land. We'll be setting down in two hours."

"If I may captain," Ash added "We're setting down on company orders. There is no way around this."

"Is that all?" Crane asked.

"That is." Dallas replied "You all know your stations. I want us down on the surface in two hours." He turned to Parker "Do we have the capabilities to land still."

"Yeah." The man replied "We'll hold. Just leave it to us."

"Alright," Dallas replied "Let's make it happen."

Jon sighed, and got up.

He technically had no station. His job was an in-transit job. However, he figured that he could do some good with the telescope. Perhaps he could find a new star.

He made his way back to the blister, and got back in his chair. He sighed, and looked at the monitor.

He typed in **Render57/BetaOn/Horizontal-Axis-Y[Enter]**.

With that, the computer made a few more sounds, and began to whirr.

**Alert57-ywxz286899…Translating…Telescope Ready…What would you like to do?**

Jon typed **Scan201A**

**Rendering…Scanning sky section…Express scan recommended…Express Scanning now…Please wait…**

The telescope had an Express Scan feature when you've synced the Ocular and Radio. They both worked together, scanning the same sky at the same time, getting the same results in a quarter of the usual time. The radio telescope however, it was a bit of a lemon. When you used it to scan the sky, you kept getting extra stuff.

That's why, when he did his job, it took the ocular only. Plus, the radio telescope had a hard time working on its own. He'd been meaning to talk to Dallas about giving the Telescopes an overhaul. He really wanted a GUI interface for it, and perhaps a more reliable Radio Telescope.

As he waited, he let Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas take him away.

_Carry on my wayward son_

_There'll be peace when you are done_

_Lay your weary head to rest_

_Don't you cry no more_

Letting the guitar solo overtake him, he caught himself doing air guitar. It was a little embarrassing, yet fun.

There was a "BUZZ" when the scan was done.

He turned to face the printout, music still playing.

**Scan Interrupted…Scan unable to be performed during approach…**

Crane sigh-grunted. He got up, and made his way over to the Narcissus. He might as well be in there when they were approaching.

The Narcissus served as Bridge, Escape boat, and control hub. He knew this ship like the back of his hand, able to go practically anywhere during the three day breaks.

He took a seat by the controls. He was watching the readouts as Ash worked the controls.

"Why aren't you in the Telescope Blister?" Dallas asked, turning to face Jon.

"Scan got interrupted." He sighed "I was hoping to get in a few new stars, yet the scan got interrupted with a major change in trajectory."

"You like to look at stuff, look at this." Kane interrupted, pointing out the view port.

_ The LV planetoid was massive. The size of Jupiter in the Sol System, it wasn't as bright and colorful though. It was a planet with shades of grey and black. Around it, were grey rings, akin to those of Saturn, yet made with rock rather than ice._

_ Around it were moons, all about the size of Triton or such. At this angle, the star was eclipsed by the larger planet._

"That's incredible." Jon sighed.

"Let's take her in for a landing." Dallas announced.

Jon watched Ash readied for detachment.

He could feel the ship move, as the umbilical was extended.

"Are we parked in Lagrange?" Dallas asked.

Ash nodded. "Point seventeen."

"Take us down." The captain finished.

Jon sighed. It was boring just waiting.

He felt the ship drop off, and could feel it turn as Ash brought it onto the surface.

There were thin whisps of clouds on the way in, seeming to get thicker as they went down.

From the window, he could see what appeared to be rain splatter against the windows.

As it was approaching the surface, Jon had a bad gut feeling. Something was telling him that something was going to go wrong.

As the ship approached the surface, he started to tap his foot in order to keep calm.

"Extending landing gear." Ash announced.

He heard a whine, and felt the ship start to rock. The site that they were landing at was big enough, yet something didn't sit right.

He grabbed onto something, the feeling of landing always got to him. There was a bounce, and then a screech, before the worst happened.

A fire started. It broke out around the Narcissus. Flames began to come from the various outlets.

Someone shouted "Fire!".

There was a scramble to find extinguishers. Crane managed to grab one, and pointed it at a flame that was behind him.

Within a minute, the fire was contained, and within three, it was put out.

With that, there was a collective sigh.

"What's the situation?" Dallas asked.

"We've got a minor stress in the hull." Ash explained "Nothing too major. We've got about four hours until it becomes a breach."

"Let's run a diagnostic, find out what's wrong." Dallas replied. "Everyone else, just sit tight."


	4. CH 3: The Surface

_**So tell me something; how is it that this story's received so few reviews. I swear, it's one of my most detailed stories, and it's hardly been reviewed.**_

_**So here's what I'm gonna do. After this chapter, I won't update until I get two reviews each. **_

_**So please, leave a review when you're done…**_

**Chapter 3: The Surface**

Crane sighed. Finally on the ground, there wasn't much to do. They'd have to give the ship an overhaul sooner or later.

"How long until we're functional?" Dallas asked, motioning to Ripley.

"About 15 to 20 hours," she sighed.

"Stay on it." Dallas replied. He turned to face Crane "You go see if that damned telescope is working. That thing's too expensive to replace."

"Right on it." Jon sighed.

He got up, and made his way back to the blister. He took a seat.

He punched in **{Alt}Echo[Shift]Start up{Enter}**

The interface immediately came back to life.

**Telescopes On-Line…What would you like to do?**

He punched in **Vega-Xray[Shift]Delta-Echo(Run)**

The computer buzzed

**Running Diagnostic…Checking functionality…Verifying readouts…Checking for updates…Done…Radio Telescope function;Normal…Ocular Telescope function;Normal…**

He sighed. This was the best news he could have received. The Telescope had made it down in one piece.

He thumbed the com switch. "Captain" He called to the Narcissus

"What is it Crane?" Dallas replied.

"Telescopes are normal." He sighed "I can't see a damned thing out of the ocular, but both still work."

"Sure the ocular isn't broken?" Dallas replied.

"I'm positive." Jon answered "It's just the cloud cover. Can't see past it."

"You're on watch while we go out to check the source." Dallas replied "We'll be leaving in about an hour. You're welcome to coffee with us on the bridge until then."

"Alright." Jon replied "I'll be right down. Let me put the cap on the lens first. I don't like all this dusty wind."

He hit **[F17]Echo{Off}**

There was a whirr as the cover began to move over the lens to the ocular.

"Time for some coffee." He sighed. He got up, and made his way back to the Narcissus.

"Anything new happen?" he asked as he walked in.

"Nothing but the same transmission every thirty two seconds." Ash replied "All of the other channels are dead."

"Kick on the floods." Dallas commanded "Let's see what we can see."

Immediately out the windows, the lights came on, revealing a dark, rocky environment around the ship.

"We can't go out in this." Kane commented.

"Mother says the sun's coming up in about 20 minutes." Ash replied.

"How far are we from the source of the transmission?" Dallas inquired.

"Northeast." Ash sighed "About 3000 meters."

"Close enough to walk." Kane replied.

"Let's run an atmospheric." Dallas commanded.

Ash started to punch buttons, and looked at his panel. Crane couldn't make up or down of it from what he could see.

"10 percent argon," Ash announced "85 percent nitrogen, 5 percent neon," He paused "I'm working on the trace elements."

"Pressure?" Dallas replied

"Ten to the fourth dynes," Ash replied "Per square centimeter."

"Moisture content?" Dallas asked.

"None." Ash sighed "Zero."

"Anything else?" the captain replied.

"Rock, lava base." Ash added "And cold, well below the centigrade line."

"I volunteer for the first group." Kane announced.

"I hear you." Dallas replied, he turned to Lambert "Lambert, you too?"

"Swell." She sighed.

"One more thing," Dallas announced "Let's get out some weapons."

Crane whistled down. He sure was glad he wasn't going out there. He never really liked to do EVA's.

Dallas and Kane got up and walked out.

Jon spotted his sketchpad. He then saw a pencil.

Turning to a new page, he decided to draw something. He started to sketch the Narcissus, Lambert included.

It only took him about 5 minutes. He didn't bother with much shading.

"Whatcha got there?" Lambert asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Just a still life?" Crane sighed. "Not my best work."

"What is your best work then?" She asked.

"Well," he began. Turning the pages, he arrived at Lambert in her cryo-tube.

"Wait," she asked, looking over it "Is that me?"

"Well," he sighed "Who else could it be?"

"That's me isn't it?" she sighed.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"It's very beautiful." She sighed "I've never had anybody draw me before."

"Well," he replied "perhaps I could draw you while you're awake?"

"Sure," she commented "You're such a great artist. Can I have that?"

"Well," He sighed "Perhaps if you'll go out to dinner with me. I know this place on Luna that you'll just love."

"First, let me have my drawing." She replied.

"I think you'd want a drawing of you awake." He sighed "I'll happily do it when you get back from your EVA."

"I've got to go." She replied, "I'll see you when I get back." She got up, and began to walk out the Narcissus.

Jon watched her walk out, admiring her curves and beauty.

He decided to listen to a bit of music while he waited for everyone to be done.

He could easily hear the doors open as the party left.

He decided to take a nap where he was. He shut his eyes, leaned back in the chair, and fell asleeip.

**xXx**

After a good three hours, he heard a commotion over the intercom.

"What's going on?" he asked groggily, seeing Ripley at her station.

"Something's managed to attach itself to Kane's face while they were out." She replied "Unfortunately, I have to keep them outside. We've broken every rule or quarantine already."

"Open the God damn hatch Ripley!" Dallas' voice replied from the com.

"I can't." she replied, pressing the receive button "If you were in my position you'd do the same."

Crane couldn't believe it. He'd always known his half-sister was a bit of a cold fish on board the ship, yet this was a new cold.

He thought about Lambert. He couldn't imagine leaving her out there.

He got right out of his seat and bolted out the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ripley called out "Get back here!"

He ignored her, knowing full well the consequences of doing so. As Warrant Officer, she was a tier above Provisional Officer.

He made his way down to near the airlock, passing by a startled Ash.

He found the hatch to the airlock, and mashed the switch-buttons.

With an whine the servos started up. Outside, he could clearly see them waiting. Indeed, Kane did have something on his face.

He saw Ripley storming his direction, mad as hell. Of all the emotions she carried, anger was the one you least wanted to see.

"What the hell did you just do?" she yelled, entering the area.

"I did what you didn't have the stomach to do." He sighed "I opened the hatch. They'd have died out there if we didn't do something."

"You defied a direct order." She replied "You've got a lot of nerve defying me."

"Well if I didn't do something," he sighed, panting "Kane might die." He paused "So what if I broke quarantine, I just saved a life."

"We'll see about that." She sighed.

At this, the hatch opened.

Dallas and Lambert entered, carrying Kane's body between them.

"Stay clear" Dallas commanded.

Ripley and Jon each stepped aside.

"What's goin' on here?" Parker called out, entering the room.

"Great Gig In The Sky!" Jon replied, disgusted and amazed at the creature that had melted through the helmet. The creature resembled a cross between a spider and a horseshoe crab. The horse-shoe crab came in with the tail that was wrapped around his neck. The spider aspect was the finger appendages that were on top of his face. The entire thing was a grayish green.

"Is it alive?" Parker asked.

"I don't know," Lambert replied, fear to her voice "But don't touch it."

Brett walked in afterwards.

"Take him to the infirmary." Dallas commanded.

"Right." Brett replied.

Ash and Brett each took a hold of Kane and began to carry him.

Jon heard a "HISS" from behind.

Turning around, he saw Lambert and Dallas each take off their helmets.

"I'm going to see what happens with Kane." Dallas announced. With that, he took off his suit, and made his way to the Infirmary.

"You okay Lambert?" Jon asked. "Need any help?"

"Thanks." She replied. He helped her remove the bulky space suit, setting everything aside as she handed it to him.

"So what exactly happened?" he asked, confused at what he missed.

"I'm not sure." She replied "It all happened so fast. The worst part is what your sister tried to do. She was going to leave us out there." At this, Lambert began to sob.

"I'm so sorry for what she did." Jon sighed "She's always been so intent on keeping to procedure." He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she sobbed.

"She was going to let Kane die!" Lambert sobbed.

"I know." He replied "I would never have allowed that to happen. That's why I opened the hatch."

"Still," Lambert sobbed "She has no right to leave us out there." Wit that, she slipped out of his very loose grip, and stormed her way to the Infirmary.

"Wait." Jon called, running after her.

As she walked in, she walked up to Ripley and slapped her across the face.

Jon noticed Kane was in a booth, 'under the scope' as it was known.

"What was that for?" Ripley asked.

"You were going to leave us out there!" Lambert sobbed.

At this, she lost her composition, and began to cry very hard.

Jon walked in, and put his arms around her.

She leaned in against his shoulder, and continued to cry.

"Maybe she should have." Parker sighed "Who the hell knows what that is."

"Right" Brett seconded.

After there was a good sized tearstain on Jon's shirt, Lambert stopped crying.

Ripley looked over at Lambert. "Let's call it settled." She sighed.

"Sure." Lambert replied.

"Can somebody fill me in?" Ripley asked.

"I've been wondering the same thing." Jon sighed.

"He went into the structure alone," Dallas replied "And we lost radio contact. When we pulled him out, it was on his face."

"Where did it come from?" Ash asked.

"Somewhere inside that ship." Dallas replied.

"What ship?" Jon asked. "Of all the times to take a nap, I choose the time while you're out."

"Well, to fill you in," Dallas began "We determined that the source of that transmission was a derelict ship out in the distance. We went inside, and lost radio contact. Then this happened."

"How the hell is he breathing?" Parker asked.

Everyone looked at the monitors.

"Blood's thoroughly oxygenated." Ash announced.

"How," Dallas inquired "His nose and mouth seem to be blocked."

"We'd better look inside his head." Ash sighed. He pressed a series of three buttons.

The monitor showed an X-ray of Kane's head and upper torso. The creature was clearly visible on it. Kane's jaws were forced open, and there was a tube down his throat. The tube ended at the base of the esophagus.

"It's got something down his goddamn throat." Brett commented.

"That must be how it's getting oxygen to him." Ash replied.

"It doesn't make any sense." Ripley commented, shaking her head "It paralyzes him, puts him in a coma, then keeps him alive?"

"Sure doesn't sound like anything I've seen?" Crane sighed "It's practically the opposite of most parasitic life forms out here."

"Let's kill it!" Parker suggested "We can't leave the damn thing on him!"

"I don't know." Ash sighed "At the moment, the creature is keeping him alive. If we remove it, we might terminate Kane."

"I don't think so." Dallas replied "Let's take the chance and cut it off him."

"You'll take the responsibility." Ash sighed.

"That's right." Dallas confirmed.

Lambert gasped, and pulled her eyes away in disbelief, burying them in Jonathan's chest.

Dallas and Ash slipped on pairs of surgical gloves. Ash pressed a switch, and Kane slid back out of the booth.

"Give me the knife." Dallas commanded to Ripley.

She took the surgical laser blade from the case, and gingerly passed it to Dallas.

Lambert pressed her face further into Jon's chest, fearful. He sighed, stroking her hair gently.

Dallas flicked the switch with his thumb, and the device began to HUMM. He made his way up to Kane, and gently touched the scalpel to the creature's left side middle "finger"

From the creature came a urine-like fluid that began to drip from the wound.

"Starting to bleed." Dallas announced.

Jon watched the Liquid flow onto the bedding next to Kane's head. There was a "HISS" and smoke started to come from the stain.

It then started to eat a hole through the bed and dripped to the deck below.

There was even more smoke, and the metal was bubbling and sizzling, creating fumes.

Everyone started to cough. It was like the fumes ate into your lungs. They started to go out of the cabin. Jon made sure to help Lambert out.

They still were coughing. Dallas made a yelp.

"Shit!" Brett called "It's going to eat through the decks and go out the hull."

He started to run for the companionway.

Everyone followed, going down to the B Deck.

"Where is it?" Ripley questioned aloud.

"There!" Dallas cried, pointing to a spot about five feet away.

There was a sizzling sound from the ceiling and the fluid oozed down. It dripped to the deck, and continued to bubble, going straight through the bulkhead.

"What can we put under it?" Ash asked, confused.

Ripley and Parker both made their way down to the C Deck, while Dallas, Ash, Brett, Lambert, and Crane stayed on this deck.

"Don't get under it!" Parker replied, still able to be heard from above.

Everyone crouched around the spot in the deck.

Ash took out a pen and started to probe the spot in the deck. He pressed the end to the deck, slowly.

There was no response

"Just to be sure." Crane sighed, he put his finger to the spot in the deck. There was nothing, except warm metal.

"It's stopped penetrating." Ash sighed.


	5. CH 4: Per Futurum

_**Do you know what I know? Is the sun ever to be eclipsed by the moon? Are the Stars ever to one day die? Are you wondering where I'm going with this?**_

_**Well, let's just say that things are getting interesting. The ride I'm taking you on is worth more than what I'm seeing. I know you can easily review, but you don't. **_

_**Why not? I love feedback, yet you won't give me any. So please, do me a favor, throw me a bone by leaving a review. If it's signed, I'll get back to you very quick. If it isn't then that's okay, it's appreciated anyways.**_

_**So leave a review when you're done…**_

**Chapter 4: Per Futurum**

**Crane**

He took his hand away from the metal. It still was a bit weird feeling that.

Ellen came back up. "What's happening?" she asked

"I think it's lost steam," Ash replied "No longer active."

"What kind of creature has blood like that?" Lambert sighed.

"Last I heard," Jon replied "nothing."

"I've never seen anything like that," Ash explained "Except molecular acid."

"This thing uses it for blood!" Brett exclaimed.

"It was the asbestos that stopped it," Ash sighed "Otherwise it would have gone straight through" he was about to put the pen in his pocket, yet decided against it, holding it by the end.

"Wonderful defense mechanism" Dallas replied "You don't dare kill it."

"I can only imagine where a creature like this evolved." Jon sighed "Sounds like hell if it needs molecular acid for blood."

Parker came back up "It's stopped bleeding."

"Yeah," Dallas replied sarcastically "After it penetrated two levels."

"What about Kane?" Ripley sighed.

They all started to walk back to the infirmary. It didn't take long to find out the truth.

Kane was still lying on the bunk, with the creature still raping his face. However, where Dallas cut it, the wound was completely healed over.

"Any acid get on him?" Parker asked.

Dallas made his way over to him "Doesn't look like it?" he replied

"Is it still dripping that crap?" Brett asked.

"Healed over." Ash stated.

"There's got to be some way we can get it off?" Lambert cried, scared.

"I don't think you ought to try again." Ash sighed "It didn't work out too well the last time."

Dallas looked over at Ash.

Ripley proceeded to press a button, and once again, Kane went into the booth and back 'under the scope'.

She pressed a few more buttons.

"I'd better get some intravenous feeding started," Ash announced "so far, I can't tell what the alien has absorbed from his system."

The Machine began to whirr and beep as it further processed Kane's body.

"What's that stain on his lungs?" Ripley asked, motioning to the monitor.

The X-Ray revealed quite the sight. There was a dark blot on the chest cavity. At the center over his lungs, it was completely opaque.

"Whatever it is," Ash sighed "It's blocking the x-ray."

For a brief moment, there was awkward silence. Then, the stain started to spread on the monitor.

"What happens now?" Brett asked.

Ash proceeded to set his pen aside. Looking at it, one could see it was partially melted.

Jon looked at his finger, wondering what had happened to them since he touched it. The result was like something out of a horror movie.

His finger was bleeding at the tip, with skin just having been melted off, dangling off the tips. Blood was starting to drip onto the floor.

Jon realized for a moment that there was still shock from it, the reason why he wasn't in pain. Then he felt it.

It was as if someone had burned him, and that they used boiling water to do it. It was so excruciating, that he screamed the f-word as loud as possible.

"My hand!" he yelled afterwards.

"Probably shouldn't have touched it." Ash sighed, "Here, give me your hand."

"Good God!" Ripley cried out, "Are you okay."

"Someone give me some bandages." Ash instructed.

Ripley handed him the first aid kit.

"Now." Ash sighed, taking the gauze bandages "I'm going to wrap this around your finger. This way, all of the bleeding is stopped. You still will need to use it to do your job on the rest of the trip." He started to wrap it around his finger, taking the entire thing in and around. To secure it, he wrapped it around his hand and thumb slightly. He then set the ends in place with an adhesive.

"Now, try not to stress it out." Ash instructed.

"Alright doc." Crane sighed "I'll be sure to take note of that."

"You really shouldn't have touched it." Ripley sighed.

"Are you okay?" Lambert asked.

"Yeah." He sighed, smiling "I think I should try and draw you now."

"Alright people." Dallas announced "back to work."

"Let's go someplace quiet." Jon suggested.

Lambert and he exited, heading to the telescope blister, right after Crane grabbed his sketchpad.

"So," she sighed, taking a seat at his booth "Should I stand still or something."

"You can move around and talk." He sighed "Just try to hold your pose for a bit."

"Alright." She sighed, taking a look at him with her head tilted and her arms crossed. She had the "I can be serious yet at the same time want to flirt look".

Crane drew her general frame, trying to capture the pose exactly with the lines and circles. He got the general idea of her down on paper. He kept a medium shot look to it.

"Try and hold a look with that." He announced "I'm going to draw your face."

"Alright." She sighed, taking a fun smile to it, a slight grin.

He then started to draw that look, and captured it within a couple of minutes.

"Alright," he announced "You can move your face. Just try to keep the general pose with your body still."

"Okay." She sighed.

He proceeded to draw the rest of her, getting her outfit, and the general look of her down.

When he was finished, he announced "All done. Would you like to see it?"

"Sure." She answered.

He showed it to her, as she walked right up to him.

"I look really good." She replied "You captured me perfectly."

"Thanks." He commented, wrapping his left arm around her "I always like to draw a bit of action to it."

"It's got the mood of restless passion." He announced "The last drawing of you had the mood of peaceful tranquility."

"Well," she replied "I guess I have to go out with you when we get back."

"Alright." He replied.

She leaned in closer, moving up to him. She put her hands on his chest.

He proceeded to put his arms around her.

She may have only stood up to his nose, yet she knew a way. She put her hand on the back of his head.

He then realized exactly what she was trying to do. However, before he could do anything else with this, she proceeded to pull his head down towards her.

He completely let her, and even assisted by moving his head even after she stopped.

She closed her eyes, and leaned to the right slightly.

He closed his, leaning to the left.

They met in a sweet, sensual, and passionate kiss.

**Ripley**

She was currently dealing with Brett and Parker at the moment. If only she could find where her half-brother went off to.

However, the two were currently working on something.

She thumbed the machine "What's happening?" she asked.

"A lot of hard work, real work." Parker replied.

**Crane**

What had started out as a simple kiss was soon turning into a full blown make-out session.

Currently, his hand was on her butt, with another on the top of her back.

Her left hand was currently on his butt, and her right was on his head, pushing it to her.

"Well," Ripley's voice sighed "Good job Jonathan."

Both Crane and Lambert stopped, and turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Jon asked, confused.

"Well," she sighed "Since the 204 coolant line isn't fixed, and you're next in line, I've decided to give you the responsibility of making sure Brett and Parker get it fixed."

Jon sighed. "Why are you telling me now?"

"Well," she sighed "I figured that since you're currently without something to do, I figured I'd give you some work."

"You know," Crane sighed "I would like a bit of extra time with the telescope. I see the sky's starting to clear up a bit."

"Don't give me that bullshit." Ripley replied "Just go down there and tell Brett and Parker to pick up the pace. It's all you have to do."

Crane rolled his eyes. However, he knew that there wasn't very much else to deal with.

"I'll be in the mess." Lambert sighed "Jones is probably there, so I'll play with him for a while."

"I'll see you there." Crane sighed. He walked out from the blister, and made his way down to E level, the most cramped of the levels, and his least favorite.

He found Brett and Parker further in, at the Engine room.

The engine was massive, almost like a mechanical idol. It had pipes, tubes, and various other connections to the ship. At least, through the Plexiglas. There was a way to directly fix it, yet that way wasn't accessible from the inside.

Currently, there was an engine terminal cubicle that allowed one to control what went on for repairs.

Brett was currently trying something out with the machine, while Parker was standing over him.

"Well," Jon asked "Any luck?"

"Not in a million years." Brett sighed "Damn thing seems to want to stay broken."

"Well," Jon replied "The sooner it gets done, the sooner we go home."

"Why doesn't your sister ever come down here where the real work is at?" Parker asked "Should know this stuff don't fix itself."

"Yeah, well she sent me down her to make sure it gets fixed." Jon stated "The sooner it's fixed, the sooner we can leave."

Brett tried something with the machine, getting a "WHIRR" and a groan out of it. "Probably going to need a new part." He sighed.

"Try and just get it to work." Jon replied "I know it can't be that hard. I've done diagnostics on the telescope."

"Well, the sooner it gets fixed, the sooner we can leave." Crane repeated "I'll be back in an hour. Hopefully you two can make some progress."

"I think I've got it." Brett announced "We can patch it through the 207, and run that through the 306 backup. That way, we'll be set for the way back."

"God damn Brett," Parker sighed, smiling "You're a genius."

"Let's get on it." Jon replied "You've got an hour."

He turned around, and made his way back out the engine room. He went down the pipe hallway, and into the cramped ladder chamber, squeezing through to climb back up.

He made his way up the various levels until he was back on the main level. From there, he went to the Mess, hoping to find Lambert as well as something to eat.

"Hey you." Lambert sighed as he entered.

She was currently amusing Jones with a feather on a string.

"So what do you think of your drawing?" He asked, motioning to the piece of art that lay on the table.

"I really like it." She replied "I think you're such a great artist. I really think you should do this for a living."

"Yeah," he sighed "However, stars are much more fun than simply drawing for a living. Plus, if I'm charting stars, I still get to be with you."

"Aww." She replied "Perhaps we can finish what we started back in the blister?"

"I'm game." He answered, sly grin on his face.


	6. CH 5: Interesting Developments

_**I know, Warlord Darnell is a bad man (You may stone me if you wish). I haven't updated in forever, and this is just getting to the good part. **_

_**I must say, the best things are often waited for. And in your case, the next chapter is the prize of your wait. **_

_**Enjoy…**_

**Chapter 5: Interesting Developments**

**Dallas**

Inside the Narcissus, he figured he'd get some escape from the rather boring situation, since his crew were doing their jobs currently.

He was listening to some classical music, Schubert's Sonata, number 5.

A rather soothing piece that he owned on tape. He needed to upgrade his music; cassette tapes were outmoded by at least a century.

However, it was what he had, and he would make do with what he had. And that was an old classical music mix tape.

His communicator chirped however.

He paused the tape.

"Dallas" he called back.

"It's Ash" the caller replied "I think you should have a look at Kane, something's happened."

"Serious?" Dallas inquired.

"Interesting" Ash replied.

Dallas immediately got off his seat, and called for most of the crew, sans Brett & Parker.

**Crane**

Currently in a dominating make-out position with Lambert, her legs around him in the seat while he was standing, he had his communicator chirp.

"I've got to take this" he sighed, breaking off from the kissing, and picking up his communicator "Crane"

"This is Dallas" the caller replied "Meet me in the Infirmary. I'm going to need you."

"Infirmary?" Lambert asked "Is something wrong with Kane?"

"I don't know" Jonathan replied "Capt'n didn't say. I'll be right back to pick up where we left off though"

He turned around and walked back into the hallway, and made his way down to the Infirmary.

Or at least, the corridor outside the infirmary. Ash and Dallas were staring through the window at Kane.

"It's gone" Dallas noted.

Indeed, the thing was. What had been on his face, the crawler, had somehow finished raping it, and had left. And judging by the look of things, had left Kane alive. The Executive Officer was indeed still breathing, and unconscious.

"Door's closed, it must still be in there" Ripley noted, startling Jonathan.

Spinning around, his Half-sister was standing behind him, and waiting for something.

"We can't open the door." Ash noted "We don't want to let it out."

"Yeah, I remember" Ripley added "We can't grab it, we can't kill it…"  
>"Maybe we can catch it?" Dallas suggested.<p>

"As long as we're careful not to damage it" Ash emphasized.

Everyone entered cautiously, careful not to let anything out. It was like trying to keep an inside cat inside when you entered a house. One where the cat, though raised for the indoors, constantly wished to go outside, and often attempted to.

Dallas picked up a stainless steel tray, holding it in the opposite direction as it was intended to stand.

Jonathan did likewise, as did Ash and Ripley. Each one was now armed with a stainless-steel tray, and ready to capture the creature, the Alien.

Jonathan checked around where Kane was, seeing if it didn't make it very far. Ash was checking by the supplies, Dallas by the door, and Ripley in the center.

Jonathan was currently checking underneath the shelf when he heard Ripley scream.

Turning around, he saw her move violently, with the creature falling to the floor.

"Wait, don't touch it!" Jonathan yelled, getting up from his crouched position to walk over.

He saw the creature lie motionless on the floor, no movement at all. Every sign of life the creature gave was no longer there; even it's skin, once a green-tinged gray, had turned to completely gray, a shade that denoted death.

Ripley didn't stop looking at the creature. Slowly, she built up the courage to prod it.

Jonathan flinched, before realizing that the creature was dead.

"Must be dead" Jonathan noticed "You okay sis?"

"Yeah" she sighed. She took a metal probe, and slowly picked up the lifeless-lifeform into the tray, setting it down gently, and quickly closing the lid. She then set it onto one of the tables.

Ash then set a light onto the creature, in a supine and submissive position. He then took a surgical instrument and touched the creature.

"Look at those suckers" Ash began "No wonder we couldn't get it off him"

"Where's it's mouth?" Jon and Ripley asked in unison.

"It's this tube thing, up in here" Ash explained.

The Science Off carefully took the surgical instrument and placed it into the creature, extracting and lifting up the end of a long tube, which had an incredibly obscene appearance.

"It's hardening" Ash noted. He then slid it under a fluoroscope, and peered at the display "It's dead, no sign of life whatsoever"

"Let's get rid of it" Ripley suggested

"It has to go back." Ash defended "This is our first contact with a specimen like this. All kinds of tests have to be run on it"

"That thing bled acid" Ripley replied "God only knows what it will do when it's dead"

"It's safe to assume it's not a zombie" Ash calmly explained, before turning to Dallas, who was about to walk out the door "Dallas, we have to keep this specimen"

Dallas paused in mid step, and hesitated for a moment, before replying "You're the science officer. It's your decision." He then proceeded to walk out of the infirmary.

"Then it's made" Ash announced "I'll seal it in a stasis tube"

"What about Kane?" Ripley asked.

Everyone else in the room turned back to the Stasis tube. Jonathan seized the moment to walk up to the machine, and he looked at the life-support gauges.

**Heartbeat: Active**

**Blood Pressure: 100/10**

**Brainwave Patterns: Beta-wave normal**

"Looks normal to me" Jonathan admitted "As far as I'm concerned, he's alive"

Ash walked up to the machine and looked even harder at the dials. "Running a fever, and still unconscious" he explained "The machine will bring his temperature to a healthy level, which is comparatively low. His vitals are strong, he may make it"

"Fine by me" Jonathan replied, slipping on his headphones and walking out of the infirmary.

He then slipped on a tune that he always thought reminded him of Lambert; if she ever wanted fancy things.

_Tell me where are you going_

_Sweet Mademoiselle_

_To London or Paris_

_To the Grand Hotel_

It was Mademoiselle by Styx. One of the catchiest tunes he could think of.

He came across Lambert on B-Level heading towards the Mess, and immediately walked up to her, spun her to face him, dipped her over slightly while holding on to her, and kissed her lips in one of the most passionate kisses he could muster.

**Ripley**

After having some coffee, she couldn't help but be mad at Dallas. She found him in the computer annex, where you went to use the key-card and talk to MOTHER.

"How could you leave that kind of decision to him?" she fumed, mad as hell.

"I just run the ship" Dallas replied calmly, almost as if he had no idea of the anger in the woman he was talking to "Anything that has to do with the science division, Ash has the final word."

"How does that happen?" she asked.

"Same way as everything else happens" Dallas coolly replied "Orders from the company"

"Since when is that standard procedure?" she inquired.

"Standard procedure is to do what they tell you" He replied "Besides, I only know about flying. I haul cargo for a living."

"Did you ship out with Ash before?" she asked.

"First time" Dallas explained "I went five hauls with another science man. Then, two days before we left Thedus, replaced him with Ash"

She simply glared at him, giving him a look that would hard-boil eggs.

"So what?" Dallas replied "They replaced my Warrant Officer with you"

"I don't trust him" Ripley admitted.

"I don't trust anybody" Dallas explained "What's holding up repairs?"

"They're pretty much done now" she sighed

"Why didn't you say so?" Dallas asked.

"There's still some things left to do"

"Like what?"

"Well," she began "We're blind on B and C decks. Reserve power system's blown"

"That's crap" Dallas replied "We can take off without them"

"Is that a good idea?" she asked, worried about the Skipper's thinking.

"I want to get out of here" Dallas explained "Let's get this turkey off the ground."

**Jonathan**

He was currently doing heavy-duty making out with Lambert in her seat in the Narcissus, when her com beeped.

He currently had his tongue in her mouth, when she bit down on it slightly, barely any pressure; the signal that she wanted to speak.

He slid his tongue out of her mouth and removed his face from hers.

"The communicator just beeped" she explained.

"Let it ring" he replied "We have such a beautiful moment going on."

"Where my legs are wrapped around your chest and you're seated sideways in my chair aboard the bridge?" she joked.

"Well, we had something going on" he managed, blushing.

She laughed "You're so cute Crane"

"You don't have to call me by my last name you know" he explained.

"So I call you Jon like your sister Ripley does" she asked.

"You can call me Jon or Jonathan" he explained "And Ripley and I are half-siblings. We have different mothers, yet the same father."

"Whatever" she replied.

"Well look at what we have here" Dallas' voice announced from the entranceway.

They both looked up, to see Dallas and Ripley standing at the entrance, looking at them both.

"They're like rabbits" Ripley explained "Leave them alone long enough, and they'll do the nasty somewhere onboard."

Jonathan and Lambert both blushed about 50 shades of red over the sunset outside.

Jonathan slid out of the seat and back onto his feet.

"We're leaving" Dallas explained "You go put the cap on that Telescope. That thing is impossible to fix without drydock."

"I put the cap on when we landed" Jonathan replied "I haven't even touched the terminal since then"

"You sure?" Dallas asked "That thing breaks, it's coming out of _your_ paycheck you know."

"I'm positive" Crane replied "It was the last thing I did before I left the blister"

"Alright" Dallas replied "it breaks though, and it's coming out of _your_ pay."

"Understood" Jonathan replied, taking a seat in a chair in the back. He then proceeded to put the crash-restraints around him, and turn towards a window. He saw this dismal planet's sun begin to rise as the ship began to take off.

For most of the time the ship was preparing to rise, the planet's sun was obscured by clouds.

"Lock tractor beams" Ripley announced, flipping several switches.

Jonathan felt the ship shudder for a moment.

"Retract landing struts" she added, as the ship began to rise.

The ship began to shake even more as it was hovering over the landscape. He could hear the landing struts retract into the ship.

"Take us up" Dallas announced.

A glance to the left showed Lambert over a voice amplifier. "One kilometer on ascension" she announced.

As Jonathan watched out the window, he could see for a brief moment, while the ship was still in atmosphere, the planet's sun as it was rising.

Surrounded and overseeing a cloud landscape, the sunrise was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in space, and as navigator, he'd seen quite a lot.

"Switch on lifter quads" Dallas announced.

At this, a hugely powerful and deep throbbing began, and the ship began to shake even more.

He turned to view the main crew in the bridge, and saw Ripley bent over a speaker "Everything holding together down there?" she asked to Brett and Parker, glancing over in his direction as she awaited a reply.

"We fix something," Parker's voice replied over the speaker "It stays fixed"

"Right" Brett added.

At this point, the ship was still within atmosphere, due to the fact that the cloud cover was extremely low on the rock they landed on. And even then, there were still clouds above, showing through gaps the stars and glimpses of the cargo that they were towing, the "Money" as it was referred to as.

"Engage artificial gravity" Dallas announced as they broke through the second layer of clouds.

Jonathan felt weightless for a brief moment, hovering in his chair straps, before Lambert threw a switch, and a whine came for a brief moment, before a lurch. At the lurch, Jonathan fell back into his seat.

_"Next time"_ he thought to himself _"I'm gonna not have the straps on_"

"Engaged" Lambert replied to Dallas.

"Altering the vector now" Dallas replied, maneuvering the ship via the pilot's joystick.

There was then a major tremor that ran through the ship, making it shake more violently than usual in it's taking off. Jonathan was a bit worried, as was the rest of the crew.

"Dust is clogging up the damn intakes again" Parker shouted over the coms "We're overloading!"

"Just hold us together until we're beyond G1" Dallas replied coolly.

In all of the violent movement the ship was going through, Crane couldn't help but think back to Kane, who was still "Under The Scope" in the infirmary. Hopefully the guy wasn't being thrown about.

Jonathan couldn't help but turn back in his chair and watch the crew get the ship up. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the cargo approaching from the rear end.

"Let's pick up the money and go home" Dallas announced.

Out the window, Jonathan could see the ship exit the last vestiges of atmosphere that was around the dismal rock, it's version of the Van Allen Radiation Belts. To an ordinary ship, this would have been equal to an EMP blast. To a modern ship however, this was nothing. A planet could have those and a ship would be completely fine.

After a little gimmicking on the end of Dallas, they were attached back to the refinery with a "THUD!" and a "BANG".

At this point, they were well beyond the planetoid's gravity, and they were ready to start heading home.

"Set our course and get us to light plus four" Dallas instructed.

His beloved Lambert began to flip several switches and press buttons, saying "Feets get me out of here"

At this point, the ship began to accelerate, and a corona effect appeared as the universe around it began to shift.

At this point, Jonathan's stomach let out a resounding "GLUURRCCHH" that rang through the room.

"I'm gonna go get a snack" He announced "Anyone want anything?"

There were multiple responses for "Coffee" and everyone in the bridge followed him to the mess. Even Brett and Parker had came in once Ripley got a pot started. It seemed that the entire crew ran off the stuff.

Jonathan was looking through the shelves when he saw the occasional piece of fruit the ship would dispense. Usually, the container that went in the back came out with multiple pieces.

This time however, it came out with a 5 pound watermelon, completely circular. Jonathan's eyes lit up at the sight of this. He immediately put both hands around it and set it on the table with a thud.

"Is that a watermelon?" Ripley asked.  
>"Should be" Jonathan replied "Not sure what it was doing in the fruit ration system, but it's currently summer back on Terra, why not celebrate it with summer fruit"<p>

"I'm game" Lambert replied.

"Sounds good to me" Dallas added.  
>"I've been craving this since Thedus" Parker replied "Sounds to me like heaven on earth"<p>

"Right" Brett quipped.

"Sure, why not" Ripley ceded "Anyone got a knife?"

"Nothing that can cut through this" Dallas sighed "Looks like we're stuck leaving it alone"

"Hey Jon" Ripley asked "Aren't you a Green Belt in Karate?"

"Yeah" Jon replied "Why?"

"You could probably break the watermelon open" Ripley asked "I remember at your Karate Meet you broke three 2x4s"

"That I did" Jonathan confirmed, stroking the facial hair that was starting to grow on his chin. "If you all could brace the table" he replied "I'd be able to chop it in half"

Everyone proceeded to grab onto the table. This left all six holding onto an end.

"If someone could hold it in place for me" Jonathan asked "That would really help."

Ripley proceeded to let go of the table and hold onto both ends of the innocuous melon with both hands.

Jonathan closed his eyes, and began to breathe deeply, getting focused and in the zone.

He clenched his right fist, and held his muscles tense, before flattening his right hand into chop position.

He opened his eyes, raised his hand above his head, and yelled out something primal, before unleashing the chop onto the green melon.

There was a crack, and he'd managed to get it to break in half. Ripley let go of the pieces as they fell onto the table.

"Holy crap" Parker exclaimed "How'd you do that?"

"Just got in the zone" Jonathan plainly replied.

"I'll get this thing cut up" Ash replied "I still think you shouldn't have done that. Especially with your hand."

"Only my fingertip got melted" Jonathan corrected, remembering back to the bandage that the man had wrapped.

"That is true" Ash sighed, taking out a knife and beginning to divide up the melon.

Ripley noticed the pot of coffee was ready, and began to distribute cups of it among the coffee-drinking members, which was everyone but Jonathan (He couldn't stand the taste and bitterness)

Jonathan took his piece, and wondered how he still had it in him. He hadn't practiced since he was seventeen.

"What should we do about Kane?" Jonathan asked, promptly biting into the watermelon slice he was given.

"The best thing we can do is freeze him. Stop the goddamn disease." Parker suggested "He can get a doctor to look at him when we get back home"

"Right" Brett repeated, his usual one-liner.

"Whenever he says anything you say 'right'." Ripley noted "You know that Brett"

"Right" Brett continued.

Lambert got up and excused herself.

Jonathan was enraptured by this. If someone hadn't of brought that to light, he'd have eventually said something.

"What do you think Parker?" Ripley asked "Your staff just follows you around and says 'right'. Just like a regular parrot."

Jonathan laughed at this.

Parker turned to face Brett. "Yeah, shape up" he chided "What are you, some kind of parrot?"

"Right" Brett answered.

Jonathan laughed so hard that his sides began to hurt, and he fell backwards in his chair. It was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard.

"Knock it off" Parker replied "Kane will have to go into quarantine"

"Yeah" Ripley seconded "And so will we"

Lambert entered the Mess again. "How about a little something to lower your spirits?"

"Thrill me" Dallas replied.

Jonathan stopped laughing and righted himself and the chair.

"According to my calculations," she began "Based on the time spent getting to and from the planet and the speed it's moving away from the other…."

"Give me the short version" Dallas replied, interrupting her.

"It'll take us six weeks to get back on course" she explained.

"How long to get back to Earth?" Dallas asked.

"Ten months" she answered.

"Christ" Ripley sighed.

There was a beep from Dallas' communicator. He picked it up "Dallas" he replied.

"Come over and see Kane" Ash's voice replied through the device, audible for all.

"Any change in his condition?" Dallas asked.

"It's simpler if you just come and see him" Ash replied.

Everyone got up, leaving their coffee and melon on the table. They made their way down to the Infirmary, to quite a surprise.

Kane was seated up on the table, wide awake. Lambert was the first to approach him.

"Kane" she asked "Are you alright?"

"Mouth's dry" the Executive officer replied "Can I have some water?"

Right on cue, Ash brought a plastic cup full of water. It was small, about the size of a disposable snack/drink cup, barely 5 ounces. Kane gulped it in two sips.

"More" the man gasped.

Jonathan, standing closest to the water, reached for the pitcher, and proceeded to fill a 20oz cup to the brim.

He carefully brought it over to Kane, who grabbed it quickly with such coordination as to not spill a drop. He raised it to his mouth, and greedily drank the contents, gulping and slurping loudly. When he had emptied it, he sagged back down on the bunk, panting like a dog.

"How do you feel?" Dallas asked.

"Terrible" Kane replied "What happened to me?"

"You don't remember?" Ash inquired.

"Don't remember anything" Kane explained "I can barely remember my name"

"Are you in any pain?" Jonathan asked.

"All over" Kane replied, "Feel like someone's been beating me with a stick for six years" he paused, and smiled "God I'm hungry" He finished.

"What's the last thing you can remember?" Ripley asked.

"I don't know" Kane admitted.

"Do you remember what happened on the planet?" Dallas asked.

"Just some horrible dream about smothering" Kane explained "Where are we?"

"We're on our way home" Ripley replied.

"Getting ready to go back in the freezers" Brett added.

"I'm starving" Kane replied "I want some food first"

"I'm pretty hungry myself" Parker seconded.

"I haven't eaten since we woke up" Jonathan added.

"One meal before bed" Dallas announced.

With that, the rest of the crew made their way to the mess, while Ash helped get Kane into some decent clothes before they followed them.

It wasn't long before they all had something on their plate. All of it was artificial, the only thing that had ever been natural at one point was the fruit, yet that was only preserved through dehydration. All of the rest of the stuff was completely artificial, stuff that if you had known what it had been and contained, you wouldn't want to eat it.

However, the crew was eating it, hungrily swallowing huge portions of the stuff. Even Jones was with them, eating from a dish that Lambert had set out for him.

Kane was the first to offer up any conversation. "First thing I'm gonna do when we get back is eat some decent food"

Jonathan nodded in agreement, yet was more focused on his artificial pasta.

"I've had worst than this" Parker replied "But I've had better too, if you know what I mean"

"Christ" Lambert added "You're pounding down this stuff like there's no tomorrow"

Everyone paused.

"I mean I like it" Parker explained.

"No kidding" Kane commented.

"Yeah" Parker went on "It grows on you"

"It should" Kane replied "You know what they make this stuff out of…"

Jonathan looked up, wondering what Kane was going to say next. As much as he enjoyed the ersatz food, he was curious as to what it was made out of, yet kind of hoped it wasn't too bad.

Parker interrupted him "I know what they make it out of" he replied "So what? It's food now. You're eating it."

"Amen to that" Jonathan replied, lifting his glass, and toasting it with Parker.

"…" Kane had only managed to take a breath in for a reply when his face grimaced. He suddenly had a look like something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Ripley asked, concerned look on her face.

Kane's voice was strained, as if he was in serious pain.

"What's the matter?" Lambert asked, voicing the concern once again.

"I don't know" Kane managed "I'm getting cramps"

Everyone else stared in alarm. Jonathan immediately turned from his food to get up and try and help him. He was on his feet when Ash began to try and give him some help.

"Breathe deeply" Ash calmly instructed, holding Kane by the shoulders.

Kane simply screamed something deep-throated and primal, before shouting "Oh God, it hurts so bad!" he then proceeded to stand up, and let loose another very primal scream.

"What is it?" Brett asked "What hurts?"

Kane fell down onto the table, and his face twisted into a mask of agony. Jonathan and Parker tried to get him to bite on a spoon, hoping it would help him.

Kane shouted something that sounded like half of "Oh my god", yet was all one word and had yet to reach the final syllable.

At this point, a red stain appeared on Kane's shirt right over his heart, then a smear of blood began to blossom on his chest, spreading across his plain white shirt.

The fabric of his shirt then began to tear, and there was a sound that signified the breaking of bone, a sickly crunch, along with a ripping sound, the sound of snapped skin.

Blood was squirted everywhere at this, covering all of the crew, with Lambert getting covered the worst. She screamed, and Jonathan instinctively rushed to pull her away. He had her in his arms in a few moments.

A small head came forward from right over Kane's heart, about the size of a man's fist.

Jonathan shouted in startled surprise.

The creature was about the length of a yardstick from it's rounded worm head, showing no eyes, and a tiny screaming mouth that let out blood-curdling screams higher in pitch than any human could produce. The creature obviously had arms on it, and full features, yet all that really showed was its head and its tail.

Jones hissed at the thing, then bolted.

Everyone stared in amazement at the creature that Kane seemed to have "Birthed" through his chest, and it seemed that the creature was staring right back.


End file.
